Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

Southern Palace, Chonghua Palace.

"Your Highness, it is already early morning; you should rise."

Upon hearing the maid's soft reminder, Lu Chen suddenly sat up from the bed.

I glanced at the Western-style clock I'd bought from the Portuguese in Shuangyu Port; it was only three in the morning!

To attend court, you actually have to get up this early!

No wonder Emperor Jiajing and his grandson Emperor Wanli rarely attended court!

Lu Chen took the face towel offered by the palace maid, wiped his face, and stood up.

As a time traveler, Lu Chen had no habit of getting up early, whether in Linqing or Chengtian Prefecture, nor did anyone require him to get up early.

The Crown Prince, acting as regent, would ascend the throne in the Wenhua Hall to attend to state affairs, starting at the beginning of the morning (5-7 AM) and continuing his audience until around the beginning of the morning (7-9 AM).

That is, from 5 o'clock to 7 o'clock!

At the beginning of Yin Shi (3 a.m.), officials would arrive at the Meridian Gate to wait for the court session, a process known as "waiting for the hour."

At 3:40 a.m., the palace gates opened and the officials entered.

If it's not time yet, it's considered "waiting for the late arrival," which usually results in a penalty of one month's salary.

Not everyone has the means to live near the palace. Most officials need a considerable amount of time to get from their residences to the Meridian Gate. Getting up, washing, changing clothes, and having a simple meal also takes time.

The vast majority of officials in Beijing who needed to attend the early morning court session had to get up at 2 a.m., or even 1 a.m.

It was fortunate that they encountered emperors like Jiajing and Wanli who didn't like attending court.

If they had encountered an emperor like Chongzhen, who was extremely diligent and insisted on holding court every morning, it's hard to imagine how those officials in the capital managed to keep it up.

One cannot wear ordinary clothes to court. The royal court attire is very complicated and it is almost impossible for one to dress properly on one's own. It requires the assistance of several eunuchs and female officials.

From the start of changing clothes to the completion of dressing and checking that everything is correct, it takes about forty minutes.

Since accepting the investiture, Lu Chen has only worn the official royal robes a few times.

The Crown Prince who was in charge of the state was not the emperor and could not receive court homage in the main hall of the palace. The morning court was held in the Wenhua Hall.

The Southern Palace of Chonghua, where I reside, is very close to the Hall of Literary Glory, less than a kilometer away, which saves me a lot of time.

Even so, you still need to get up around 3 a.m. to ensure you arrive before dawn.

Today marks the first time the Crown Prince, who is in charge of the state affairs, has received the homage of the court officials in the Wenhua Hall.

As a prince assisting the crown prince in overseeing the country, I absolutely cannot be late; I can't afford to lose face like that.

Fortunately, Emperor Jiajing was not a workaholic and did not want his five-year-old crown prince to be tormented like this every day.

It was stipulated that the Crown Prince would sit in the Wenhua Hall on the 3rd, 6th, and 9th of each month, and attend the morning court nine times a month, which was considered to be three days on and seven days off.

Having to attend court every morning is truly an inhuman experience!

. . .

At the beginning of the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), in the front hall of Wenhua Hall.

"Sound the whip!"

After three crisp sounds, all the civil and military officials in the hall knelt down in unison and performed four bows to Crown Prince Zhu Zaiyi, who sat on the four-clawed dragon throne in the hall.

"...Your Highness, we humbly pray that you are blessed with great fortune and that your imperial rule will be everlasting!"

The crown prince, who was only five years old by the traditional Chinese age reckoning, seemed completely uninterested in the scene, only looking around curiously.

After the officials finished their rites and stood up, Lu Chen noticed that their focus was not on the young crown prince, but on himself, who was sitting to the west of the crown prince and wearing a nine-tasseled crown.

Lu Chen couldn't see the expressions of the ministers who were farther away, but most of those standing at the front had obvious surprise on their faces.

Only a few people who saw him up close during his southern tour were able to barely maintain their composure.

Although these people had long heard that they looked very much like the Jiajing Emperor, they never imagined that the two could be so similar!

The people closest to him were not cabinet members, but hereditary nobles.

Lu Chen had already inquired about who these people were before the court assembly.

Standing in the first row were Duke Cheng, Zhu Xizhong; Duke Ying, Zhang Rong; and Duke Yi, Guo Xun.

Among them, Zhu Xizhong and Zhang Rong were hereditary dukes, while Guo Xun's original title was actually Marquis of Wuding. The title of Duke of Yi was merely an additional title bestowed upon him by the Jiajing Emperor and could not be inherited.

His son will inherit the title of Marquis of Wuding, and Guo Xun's residence will remain the Marquis of Wuding's residence.

Following the dukes and marquises were two imperial sons-in-law, Cui Yuan, the son-in-law of Princess Yongkang, and Wu Jinghe, the son-in-law of Princess Yongchun.

According to the Ming dynasty system, the rank of the imperial son-in-law was above that of the earl, followed by the several earls in the capital.

Following these honored officials were two rows of civil and military officials, with civil officials on the left and military generals on the right.

At the head of the civil officials' ranks was Grand Secretary Xia Yan, followed by Second Grand Secretary Gu Dingchen, Third Grand Secretary Zhai Luan, and the Ministers of the Six Ministries and Left Censor-in-Chief.

Of the six ministers, Lu Chen had only met one in Chengtian Prefecture: Yan Song.

The military ranks should have been headed by the officials of the Five Military Commands, but these officials were often concurrently held by dukes, marquises, and earls.

These people were now standing in the Xun Gui class, which stood in front of the civil and military classes.

Those who truly stood at the very front of the military ranks were the senior officers of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the senior officers of the Five Military Commands who did not hold noble titles.

Lu Chen saw that Lu Bing was also in the front row, only a few people behind him.

After the ceremony, some ministers began to step forward to present their reports at the court assembly. Of course, the young crown prince could not understand them at all, and the eunuchs standing to the side would reply with "Understood."

This is just a formality. After the court session, these memorials will be submitted to the Office of Transmission and then go through the approval process.

. . .

The real work of handling government affairs only begins after the morning court session ends.

Lu Chen and the Crown Prince went together to the rear hall of the Wenhua Hall, where a large sandalwood desk, inkstone, cinnabar brush, and book rack were set up. This was the Crown Prince's true office.

The crown prince sat symbolically in the main seat for a few minutes before being carried away by the eunuchs and maids of the Eastern Palace.

Lu Chen sat down at the large rosewood table to the side, which was already piled with several thick stacks of memorials with small paper labels attached.

After reading the memorials, the cabinet ministers would write their opinions on a small piece of paper, attach it to the cover of the memorial, and then send it to the Directorate of Ceremonial for approval. This was known as "drafting a proposal".

The small slips of paper on the table already bear the official approval of the Directorate of Ceremonial, meaning they have already passed one round of review.

Lu Chen only needs to write the word "okay" on it to send it to the Sixth Department.

Once the six supervising officials have verified that everything is correct, they will sign the "departmental copy" and send it to the relevant ministries and departments for implementation.

These six supervising secretaries had the power to "reject" imperial edicts and decrees, which had to be reviewed by the corresponding departments.

If it is deemed inappropriate, the Censor may return it intact; it shall not be implemented unless copied by the Six Ministries and the Six Departments.

Of course, the "rejection" power of the Six Ministries was not a decision-making power. If they wanted to reject imperial edicts, they had to give sufficient reasons.

This usually involves edicts that violate ancestral rules, the laws of the Ming Dynasty, or have serious errors in wording and format.

In Lu Chen's view, this is essentially the same as the legal department of a company conducting a final review before signing a contract in modern times to avoid legal risks.

Lu Chen had also looked up "The Great Ming Code" and "The Imperial Ancestral Instructions of the Ming Dynasty".

The Hongwu edition of the "Great Ming Code" alone comprised thirty volumes and six hundred and seven articles, with an additional three hundred and seventy-six articles added during the Jiajing reign.

Even Lu Chen, a transmigrator who had experienced exam-oriented education, found it daunting.

Even the powerful figures in the cabinet and the Directorate of Ceremonial may not be very knowledgeable about the law, and their proposed solutions may indeed violate the law.

Such a department certainly has its purpose.